


Touch

by QianLan



Series: Same Universe, Different Day [22]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Established Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-19
Updated: 2016-08-19
Packaged: 2018-08-09 19:35:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7814446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QianLan/pseuds/QianLan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The security of the feeling of skin against skin.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Touch

 

It was the first leave they’d both had at the same time in what felt like years, which was why they’d elected to spend it on Yavin 4.  The older Poe got, the stronger the pull of family seemed to become.  If anything were going to happen to him or to Finn, he wanted to know that they’d spent all the time they could with the people they loved.  That typically meant Rey and Kes, and right now, Rey was out Jedi-adventuring.   So here they were with Kes.

 

Except today, Kes had insisted that the boys go out and enjoy some “couple time,” so they’d walked into town to shop and eat and try to pretend, for a few hours at least, that there wasn’t a war raging, that they weren’t due back on base in just under 48 hours. 

 

It was always warm on Yavin 4, but today, it was sweltering, and by the early afternoon, even Poe was starting to feel it.  He nodded to Finn and navigated them towards a lake on the far side of town.  They walked along the edge for several minutes, hand-in-hand.  They didn’t talk; they just looked out across the lake, lost in a million different thoughts. 

 

The light from the sun reflected off the waves like tiny flashes.  White sparks shimmering across the blue water.  Finn had heard of planets made up entirely of gemstones, and he wondered if this is what they looked like—ever glistening, so beautiful and bright, it hurt your eyes.

 

Poe tugged on Finn’s hand and pointed to a gazebo up the hill a little way.  “Shade,” he said. 

 

They walked up to the gazebo.  Finn nodded to one of the picnic tables inside.  They sat down next to each other.  Each put his arms on the table, leaning forward, watching the water.  Finn’s right arm brushed up against Poe’s left. 

 

Neither spoke.  They just continued to stare out at the lake.

 

Poe let his hand rest on Finn’s arm.  He started absently rubbing small circles there.  It was a mindless pattern, repeated over and over again.

 

And yet, for its mindlessness, it might have been the single most intimate touch of their entire relationship. 

 

The familiarity of the movement.  The security of the feeling of skin against skin.  It wasn’t intended to lead anywhere.  It simply was. 

 

This wasn’t the sort of touch you can have on the first date or even the tenth.  It was a touch born of time; it was born of knowing each other for so long you’ve seen the good and the bad.  It was born of intimacy and vulnerability and the million other little touches that had come before it.  It was a touch that sought out the strength and assurance of the other person—it was born of the understanding that if he reached out, Finn would be there. 

 

Poe didn’t even realize he was stroking his fingers across Finn’s arm for the longest time, but as it seeped into him—as it turned from mindless into something mindful—he realized that, right now, he needed to feel Finn, to ground himself in this tiny movement, and to etch this moment—breathing in the heat, looking out at the waves, and sweating in the mid-day sun—into his mind forever. 

 

The war took so much, but as Poe let this memory carve itself into him, he smiled, thinking that there were some things that the war would never be able to take from him. 

 

Poe leaned over and kissed Finn’s arm.  “Come on, let’s go home.”

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little something that didn't seem to fit anywhere else in this series...
> 
>  
> 
> As always, you can find me on tumblr: @cha-llamala


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